News stories from Friday January 18, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Judge John Sirica recommended that Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski take his case regarding erasures of the White House tape to the grand jury. Nixon attorney James St. Clair cross-examined the electronics experts today, but their scientific explanations offered little room for discounting their testimony. Dr. Richard Bolt insisted that the experts' conclusions were correct. Rose Mary Woods' attorney Charles Rhyne read former Nixon attorney Fred Buzhardt's statement to Sirica on the day the White House tape gap was discovered. Rhyne stated that Buzhardt attempted to plead Miss Woods guilty even before the court session started.
Prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste informed that court that two other gaps exist on the White House tapes. Those tapes contained recollected conversations between the President, John Dean and John Mitchell. The White House says those gaps were simply pauses in dictation, and aide Steve Bull denied erasing any tapes. The grand jury will determine whether any illegalities were involved in the tape erasures. The White House urged Americans not to forget that the grand jury simply intends to discover how the erasures were made, not determine the substance of the taped conversations.
[CBS] - Most congressmen believe that the House Judiciary Committee will report out a bill of impeachment against President Nixon. Democratic Representative Wilbur Mills stated that the President should resign if the committee returns a bill of impeachment, and Vice President Gerald Ford should take over. House majority leader Tip O'Neill also declared that the President should step down.
Nixon met today with Senate Republican leader Hugh Scott and House Republican leader John Rhodes. Sentiment against the President seems to be rising in the House.
[CBS] - Former White House aide Edward Morgan, who was responsible for signing the deed to President Nixon's controversial donation of his vice-presidential papers to the government, resigned as assistant Secretary of the Treasury. [CBS]
- On the "Today" show, Admiral Thomas Moorer acknowledged receiving unauthorized documents from the National Security Council through a Navy yeoman. Moorer's statement followed charges that the Pentagon was spying on the White House. [CBS]
- Israel and Egypt signed a troop disengagement agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir praised Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for his work on the agreement. Kissinger stated that he hopes the signing of the disengagement plan will mark the beginning of an era of peace in the Mideast. Israeli and Egyptian generals met at kilometer 101 of the Suez road to sign the plan. Israeli General David Elazar expressed cautious optimism about the disengagement; Egyptian chief of staff Mohammed Gamasy refused comment, but President Sadat praised the disengagement agreement and Kissinger. Kissinger will try to persuade Syria to join the Geneva peace talks as his next diplomatic move and will set his sights on getting a similar deal between Syria and Israel.
Syria feels betrayed by the Egyptian government; sources in Damascus called the new agreement "treachery". Sadat will attempt to patch relations with Syria. Israeli commander Ariel Sharon may quit the army to protest the troop withdrawal.
[CBS]
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: 855.47 (-16.69, -1.91%)
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| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| January 17, 1974 | 872.16 | 97.30 | 21.04 |
| January 16, 1974 | 856.09 | 95.67 | 14.93 |
| January 15, 1974 | 846.40 | 94.23 | 13.25 |
| January 14, 1974 | 840.18 | 93.42 | 14.61 |
| January 11, 1974 | 841.48 | 93.66 | 15.14 |
| January 10, 1974 | 823.11 | 92.39 | 16.12 |
| January 9, 1974 | 834.79 | 93.42 | 18.07 |
| January 8, 1974 | 861.78 | 96.12 | 18.08 |
| January 7, 1974 | 876.85 | 98.07 | 19.07 |
| January 4, 1974 | 880.23 | 98.90 | 21.70 |